Ever After...sure

Have you ever met that couple and asked, 'When did you know this was real?' And the man says, 'I knew the first moment I saw her that I was going to marry her.'

Really?!! I wish I had that intuition. I have this feeling that the man I am supposed to be with is not where I am. I guess this could mean a bunch of things. Is he in a different state? A different state of mind? Just in my mind? I love this journey that I am on, but sometimes I want to know what sights I am going to see along the way so I can at least stay awake for it.

I get criticized for thinking that falling in love is like a fairy tale romance. I get that I dream in a romantic-comedy inspired world. But aren't stories based on real life?

Pay It Forward

Do one good deed for another and watch as the kindness

trickles through the cracks of our heart

to fill it with satisfying joy.

The simplest things mean so much more when it is not anticipated. When you are happy, it can radiate to others around you. Today, I watched as the random acts of kindness shown to a stranger become a domino affect to those who directly receive it and those who witness it from a distance. An older woman held open the door for me. As I did the same for the boy behind me, he thanked me and walked down a different sidewalk. I strolled to my car across the parking lot and a man stopped his car to wave me along. Then, I drove my car slowly through a busy lot, motioned for a car to squeeze in line and she thanked me with a smile. And last but faithfully not least, a group of people passed in front of my car and just before the crosswalk cleared a little girl paused to wave enthusiastically at me for letting her pass safely. It warmed my heart. All this in five minutes. Imagine if you had a whole day or even a lifetime to pay it forward.

Life is Full of Lemons. What Will You Make of It?

I was watching a foreign movie on the Sundance Channel, called 'The Lemon Tree', and 5 minutes of a scene sparked a thought. Though subtitles scrolled across the bottom of the screen, they were not necessary to understand the characters and I didn't read them anyways. It's not like I chose this artistically, I was just lazy. But it was effortless to feel the simple human emotion and to see the uniqueness that perspectives portray. Two people look up at a lemon tree under the same shining light. One sees fruit, prosperity, and a livelihood while the other sees it blocking the view of the vast blue sky.

Such is the metaphor for life. Do you appreciate what you have now? OR... Do you look to the future and think that tomorrow always could be better than today? You and I will look at the same object, then paint it differently. You and I will listen to the same song, then sing it in a moment for a different meaning. You and I will meet the same person, then interpret that interaction as seen through our own eyes.

If this post provokes you to think, then its randomness has served its purpose. So, I will leave you with this question. When life gives you what you did not ask for, what will you make of it?